Modern vehicles use a variety of structures to protect the vehicle's occupants during a crash. Some of these structures are used to control the transmission of the crash energy into the passenger compartment while other structures, such as seat belts, head restraints, and air bags, are intended to restrain passenger movement during a crash, thereby preventing the passengers from hurting themselves as their bodies react to the crash forces. At the heart of most, if not all, vehicle passenger safety features is a rigid and strong seat mounting assembly.
Conventional vehicle seats are attached to the vehicle floor panel. Examples of such seat mounting assemblies are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,262,963, 4,526,424, 4,784,434, 4,818,022, 5,322,348 5,653,506, 6,811,186, 7,066,521, 7,780,230 and 7,887,094. While this approach to mounting a vehicle seat has proven to be adequate, an improved seat mounting assembly is desired in order to achieve improved structural characteristics. The present invention provides such an improved seat mounting assembly.